November 16, 2016

United is introducing basic economy, a cheaper — and worse — fare class below economy. First spotted by The Points Guy, the new offering gets rid of seat assignments and elite-qualifying miles, forbids paid upgrades and flight changes, and bans overhead carry-on bags. But it’s cheaper! So there’s that.

The Airline industry seems to take the opposite approach to their product than what other companies do. Rather than iteratively improving, they seem to be rather gifted at finding ways to make the experience worse.